[PHOTO: Orlando Ramirez]
When asked about the difficulty of Torrey Pines’ South course, Matthieu Pavon made it clear he favoured that type of golf over ‘birdie ball’. “I’m not very fond of very low-scoring weeks and this week is a proper test and you can see where your game is, and for me it’s the most important.”
Where Pavon’s game is appears to be top notch. He stayed steady over the final nine holes and rebounded from a hiccup bogey on 17 with a brilliant iron from the rough at the last to win the Farmers Insurance Open to become the first Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour.
After opening with a bogey, Pavon bagged four birdies over his next eight holes. An 8-iron to six feet started things at the par-4 fourth followed by a two-putt birdie at the par-5 sixth. Another stellar iron off the tee at the 155-metre, par-3 eighth stopped five feet from the hole for another birdie and that was followed by a gap wedge to kick-in distance at the par-5 ninth.
From there a parade of pars followed (save for a three-putt hiccup on 17), highlighted by a sporty up and down from behind the green at the 14th and rattling home a 23-footer after a mediocre bunker shot when it appeared his lead might be in jeopardy. Then, facing a must-have shot from the rough on 18, he muscled an 8-iron from 142 metres to eight feet and made the putt to win.
Pavon ranked third in strokes gained/approach the green with his Ping i230 irons. The irons have an elastomer insert that saves 21 grams of weight. That mass is then moved low and to the perimeter to foster more launch while creating added forgiveness. Tungsten toe and tip weights help mitigate ball speed loss on mis-hits.
On the greens Pavon ranked fifth in strokes gained/putting, bettering the field average by more than five strokes. His putter is a centre-shafted Ping Cadence TR Tomcat – a mid-mallet model Ping introduced in 2015. Pavon’s putter is 35 inches long with 2 degrees of loft.
And now with one lofty finish to its credit.
What Matthieu Pavon had in the bag at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G430 Max (Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6X), 9 degrees
3-wood: Ping G430 LST, 15 degrees
Hybrid: Ping G430, 19 degrees
Irons (3-PW): Ping i230
Wedges: Ping S159 (52, 58 degrees)
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat
